UTC

Communauto is to launch a car-sharing service comprising hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs) in Saint-Laurent, a borough in Montreal, Canada. Mayor Alan DeSousa says the Communauto Flex service will allow users “to get around more quickly in Saint-Laurent and easily access other Montréal boroughs”. It is free to join and works on a pay-as-you-go structure. Daily trips cost $0.41 per minute, $15 per hour and $50 per day. Drivers will only be allowed to park the Flex vehicles in a zone located by Boulevard

Inrix has launched a traffic solution which it says uses artificial intelligence (AI) to provide updates to traffic conditions and pinpoint traffic speeds in different lanes. Inrix AI Traffic provides road authorities with information to help promote public safety and future-proof roadways, the company adds. According to Inrix, the solution also provides: • Estimated time of arrivals to ensure drivers arrive at their destination on-time • Instant updates on road conditions such as roadworks, accidents

The US Department of Transportation (USDoT) is to pledge $15 million to two University Transportation Centres (UTC) to advance research and education programmes that address transportation challenges. Elaine Chao, US transportation secretary, says: “These investments in transportation research will help address our country’s congestion and durability challenges.” The University of South Florida will focus on congestion relief while Washington State University will focus on improving the durability of tra

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) could have value as the mainstay of inner city transport networks in future. “It’s pure speculation, but we are likely to see more segregated road networks,” said Chris Hayhurst, European consulting manager at MathWorks. For example, level 5 (completely driverless) AVs could simply be used to pick up and drop off people in the centre of a town. “In an inner city where there are no conventional cars at all it could have huge value,” he added. Hayhurst spoke to ITS Internat

The Netherlands’ famous love of bicycles could be a problem when it comes to the deployment of autonomous vehicles there. And there might be other obstacles, finds Ben Spencer Of all the countries on the planet, the Netherlands is most ready to start deploying autonomous vehicles (AVs), according to a survey by KPMG earlier this year. On the face of it, this is good news: coming first out of 25 countries listed in the Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI) for the second consecutive year puts the Du

International ITS experts flocked to Russia for a new conference on the challenges of urban transit. Eugene Gerden reports from Moscow The Leaders in Urban Transportation Summit is a new international conference organised by the Moscow Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development. Dedicated to the latest developments in the field of ITS in the city of Moscow, it took place in the Moskva-Citi Business Center in April – and the intention is to make it an annual event. Senior transport o

Moscow summit urges transit change

Technology company Vitronic is to deploy 500 traffic control systems to the Kingdom of Morocco in a bid to improve safety in the region. Vitronic will work with its local partner Alomra Group International to install its Poliscan laser systems in 12 regions and their metropolises such as Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakesh. The technology is expected to provide speed enforcement and to monitor traffic light intersections. The company says it will supply its Compact City Housing solution throughout the countr

Co-operative traffic management needs to be more de-centralised rather than a ‘Big Brother of mobility’ approach that watches over our every movement. This is one of the key messages at Enabling interactive traffic management through public-private cooperation: examples from practical trials at this week's TS European Congress in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Pedro Barradas, policy officer at DG Move, the European Commission’s (EC) directorate-general for mobility and transport, said discussions were held on h

Cloud computing company Alibaba Cloud has partnered with Sena Traffic Systems to build smart traffic system in Malaysia which it claims could reduce travel time by 12%. Selina Yuan, president of Alibaba, says: "The smart traffic solution will constantly learn and adapt to changing traffic environments, making the traffic management system a smart learning platform and no longer just an analytic tool." Alibaba is to provide its cloud computing resources and City Brain, a solution which uses real-time c